About Us
2017 Cider With Rosie - an autobiography by Laurie Lee
Faringdon is a small picturesque market town overlooking the upper valley of the River Thames, on the edge of the historic Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England.
The Faringdon Dramatic Society (FDS), an amateur group formally known for a while as the Faringdon District Dramatic Society (FDDS) and Faringdon Community Dramatic Society (FCDS), has been in existence since 1948, with its ups and downs over the years like all organisations. Read more history …
The level of regular membership varies from around forty to sixty, augmented by up to thirty children who become temporary members for the annual pantomime. While there is a constitution and a properly elected committee to manage the society, there is no pecking order or time-serving in our approach. Everyone plays to his or her skills and there is considerable flexibility in how jobs are shared out, someone may be painting scenery in one production and directing the next. A new member is quite likely to be given a major part when they first join, in fact this is positively encouraged – assuming, of course, that they have the required skills. Having said this, no one is pressurised if someone wishes to stay behind the scenes, that’s fine.
We produce at least two plays a year in May and November and a pantomime in late January/early February, with play readings and other activities in between. There is also the odd one-act play, which we enter for the Abingdon Drama Festival. We are a very friendly group of people. As well as the party after the final performance of each production, we organise the occasional theatre trip, a regular mid-summer barbecue and a Christmas dinner. New members are always very welcome, for more information or to join, please contact us. You could also come along to one of our performances or auditions and introduce yourself.
In 2025 the society became registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) – to promote the advancement and improvement of general education in relation to all aspects of the art of drama and musical theatrical performance for all in the local community. As we have done in the past and now as a registered charity we aim to continue to provide sponsorship for young people to help them attend drama, theatre or stagecraft related courses and for other drama related projects.
For more information about the society please see our History page, FDS-A to Z (pdf), or download our PowerPoint Presentation (7MB)
Policies of the Society
The society has published a number of documents and policies suitable for public scrutany, including Health & Safety, Risk Assessments, Privacy, Child Safeguarding, and our Constitution as a Charitable Organisation. Please click here for details.
Our Canada Exchange
Faringdon Dramatic Society currently have an exchange partnership with the Garrison Little Theatre in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. Three times now they have come here and we have gone there to put on a production. The objective of the ‘twinning’ was, and still is, to give theatregoers from around Faringdon and Fort Erie the opportunity to see plays that would otherwise rarely, if ever, across the Atlantic. Fort Erie is on the border of Canada and the USA and is very close to Niagara Falls.
GLT came to Faringdon in September 2007 to perform Lend Me a Tenor.
FDS went to Fort Erie in May 2008 to deliver a performance of Outside Edge.
GLT came again to Faringdon in October 2011 to do a joint production of London Suite.
FDS went again to Fort Erie in June 2012 to deliver a repeat performance.
GLT came again to Faringdon in early May 2015 to do a production of Office Hours.
FDS went again to Fort Erie in May 2016 with Side Effects.
GLT came again to Faringdon in May 2019 to do a production of Airport Tales.
FDS hoped to be returning with Ladies’ Day in July 2021 but it had to be cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.
About this Website
The Faringdon Dramatic Society first went online on 22 January, 2000. The whole site was originally written and designed using basic html script. A full screen image has not been kept of the original site but this was the basic design.
The design changed over the years and in January 2010 with the production of ‘Aladdin’, I created and added a system for the booking and paying for tickets online for the first time.
In 2017, I converted the website to a WordPress platform and wrote bespoke admin and page templates using php script. Content can now be added more easily using editing screens that automatically calculate and update content across various pages. This makes it much easier to update for each new production and create analytical lists. The website now has over 240 pages with programs, photographs and press articles from all past productions.
In 2025, the website has had a bit of a face-lift for a simpler cleaner look to better suit desktop and mobile viewing. We also moved over to an external ticketing system so that other members can be involved with its administration.
Many people have been involved in its production:
Penny & Jessica Lee – original creation, programming and graphic design.
Ian Lee – continued maintenance, improvements and content production.
The Faringdon Folly for providing most of the more recent press articles and some of the photographs.
Joan Lee, Helen Barter, Peter & Jo Webster, Nigel & Brenda Keith-Walker, Dave Headey, and Gary Bates for the loan of their archive material.
Adrian Wells – the website makes much use of all his excellently designed posters in many areas.
Dave Headey – who has created all the highly informative programmes since 1990.
Rosemary Church of the Faringdon & District Archaeological & Historical Society for allowing us to digitise all the records that she has put together dating back to 1948, which includes many photographs, thanks to Wiltshire Newspapers Ltd.
